Many projects are inspired by that neat toy you've taken apart. Often toys are designed with low-voltage, current-hogging motors that aren't easy to control by anything but a direct battery connection. That's not an issue anymore with the Pololu dual serial motor controller, which can deliver 5 amps per motor. That lots of low-voltage OOMPH!

This low-voltage dual serial motor controller (DSMC) is designed specifically for high-performance, low-voltage (1.5~6V) toy-style motors. It can connect a motor to a single cell and power it until it is completely drained. It also supports "dual channel" mode, where you can double-team the channels to drive a single motor at up to 10 amps, without a heatsink!

The controller itself can be powered by its own 3-5.5V logic supply, or be part of a shared battery (not exceeding 5.5V). And as with any good device, it has blinky lights to show you what the controller thinks it's doing (useful for trouble-shooting!).

The 9-pin module is pin-compatible and code-compatible with the micro dual serial motor controller, making it easy to upgrade your existing robot to higher performance. The low-voltage motor controller shares all of the features of the micro motor controller except for coasting. Setting speeds of "0" in forward or reverse will result in braking.

Application notes

Please note that the low-voltage motor controller can become very hot during operation; observe proper precautions! A heatsink can improve performance, but it is not required. The motor controller does not feature over-current or over-temperature shutdown. Applying reverse battery polarity or attempting to draw too much current will cause permanent damage to the motor controller (voiding warranty, and we have ways of checking that...)

For high-current applications, make sure to use the thickest and shortest wires possible. Make sure your motors have 0.1 uF capacitors installed across their leads and from each lead to the metal motor case to limit noise and interference with your other electronics. Make sure that your battery can deliver the current that you attempt to draw Typically, you should have at least 1 amp-hour of capacity per 10 amps you draw (which would give you about five minutes of operating time).

32010

Here is a motor controller that only needs 2 lines for control, it communicates serially via 2400 or 9600 Baud TTL signals. It's a smart controller that has a number of parameters that can be adjusted and can return valuable data such as speed & position.